New Recipes

Mandu (Korean dumplings)

Lunar New Year is celebrated throughout Asia, notably China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, and Southeast Asia countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam. Even though I know that Koreans celebrate Lunar New Year, I don’t really know much about the traditions. I invited my friend Hyosun at Eating and Living back to share a Korean mandu recipe with us, as well as educate us about Korean Lunar New Year. (Previously, Hyosun shared her delicious bulgogi recipe with us.) Please welcome Eating and Living and enjoy her kimchi mandu!

Hi! I’m Hyosun from Eating and Living, the Korean home cooking blog. I am delighted to be back here at Rasa Malaysia, especially when Bee is featuring a series of special recipes for the Lunar New Year’s celebration. This time, Bee asked if I could share a mandu (Korean dumplings) recipe, which Koreans enjoy as part of the New Year’s festivities. Celebrated for three days, the Lunar New Year (Seollal) is the most significant traditional holiday in Korea. It is a time for families to gather and pay respect to ancestors, through an ancestral rite (charae), and enjoy traditional food and games. Young people also honor their elders, by wishing them a prosperous and healthy New Year, with a deep bow (sebae) and receive gifts (usually money) in return. Growing up, this was one my favorite activities of New Year’s day. We always wore a new traditional dress (hanbok) and visited the elders of relatives and family friends to perform sebae. I remember I was a happy little kid with lots of money in my special little pouch made for the occasion.

Food, of course, is a big part of the New Year celebration in Korea. As is the case in many cultures, it’s a tradition to gather around the table to make the dumplings in preparation of the New Year’s feast. There are many variations of Korean dumplings. Here, I decided to share a dumpling recipe made with kimchi. What can be more Korean than a dish made with kimchi? Kimchimandu is especially popular for making manduguk (dumpling soup) or tteok-manduguk (a variation of rice cake soup, tteokguk, with dumplings), which is a must-eat New Year’s dish. With its pungent flavor and crunchy texture, the kimchi version adds a nice contrast to the mildly flavored broth and soft rice cake slices. I steamed the dumplings for this post, but you can cook them your favorite way. I hope you make some Korean dumplings as part of your lunar New Year celebration! Happy New Year!

Thanks for the nice comment! Yes, pan-frying is a common cooking method for Korean dumplings as well. In fact, I pan-fry quite often because it’s my son’s favorite way to eat dumplings. If you are going to pan-fry, half-moon shaped dumplings would be easier to cook. Enjoy!

It’s actually really easy! First, make a half-moon shape. Next, bring the two ends of the half moon together, making a round shape, so the end parts overlap. Use water or egg wash as glue. Press the overlapped part tightly. If this is hard, simply make it into a half moon shape. Mandu will still be delicious. Hope this helps. Enjoy!

Hii lov ed ur recipes love them,chinise recipes on ur site are YUMM..Is it possible for to give a demo of how to make the dumplings :) wud really appriciate .:) Thanx alott for sharin ur wonderful n easy recipes ..It Makes the Kitchen Queen :D at my place and im proud of meeself ..Thanx